Nvidia CEO: No COVID-19 related layoffs coming

Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sent a message to his staffers regarding the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on the world, and in particular, Nvidia itself. The executive explained that despite COVID-19’s devastating impact, the chipmaker is in a strong financial position and will not be making any outbreak-related layoffs.

COVID-19’s Impact on Nvidia

Huang’s coronavirus email began with a reminder that employees should follow social distancing guidelines and wear face coverings in public. The founder underlined the seriousness of the pandemic by noting its fatality rate and impact on the global economy. However, he also announced the firm would not be making any headcount reductions because it is in good shape financially.

The founder detailed how the pandemic is expanding the utilization of its products.

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Huang noted PC sales are up because of the recent expansion of the remote workforce, a development that has also affected Intel’s bottom line. He also wrote, “Gaming is replacing other entertainment and hitting record levels.”

Microsoft, Sony, and Valve support this claim as they recently revealed COVID-19 has prompted record engagement in their respective online gaming ecosystems.

The billionaire also noted the global health crisis had increased physical-to-digital transitions in the retail, medical, and logistics sectors. Because Nvidia’s graphics processors play a key role in optimizing high-performance computing functions, Huang stated the firm’s work is “more vital to the future than ever.”

Huang also noted that Nvidia recently raised $5 billion to strengthen its already robust balance sheet. In other words, the chipmaker’s employees should have no reason to worry about their jobs in the near-term.

Nvidia New Employee Support and Charity Giving Measures

Besides not initiating any COVID-19 related layoffs, Nvidia is also eschewing its annual employee review process. Huang said the company wants to expedite worker raises and to “put tens of millions of more dollars in the hands of our families in the coming months.”

The executive also pledged to match dollar-for-dollar donations made by Nvidia employees to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The corporation already matches staffer monetary contributions up to $2,500, so Huang’s commitment will quadruple workers’ charitable gifts.

Nvidia’s leader also provided an update on the firm’s offer to make its Parabricks genome sequencing tool available at no cost to coronavirus researchers. The executive noted 575 academic, corporate, and government organizations in 88 countries are now using the system.

Given the devastating global impact of COVID-19, the actions of one corporation—even one as big as Nvidia—can feel insignificant. But the company deserves praise for stepping up to provide support for its team members and the world at large.

Mario McKellop is a Staff Writer for The Burn-In. In addition to his love for all things tech, he loves a good meme, a trending story with plenty of irony, and all things energy drink related. Mario has written for Bank of America, CBS, Chase Financial, and Time Warner Communications (to name a few). You can find his tech stories right here on The Burn-In.